In late January the Williams F1 Team confirmed that Susie Wolff would be continuing in her role as Development Driver for the team. The team said her role would be increased with more work in the team’s simulator “combined with a greater level of in-car testing”. Susie was the first to get behind the wheel of the FW35 when the car was shaken down at the Institut d’Investigació Aplicada a l’Automòbil (IDIADA) testing facility near Barcelona prior to the launch this morning.
The team has not named a Third Driver this year (at least not yet) and this is a little odd as the team has traditionally always had someone in reserve, just in case. There is little doubt also that having Wolff onboard is great for the team’s sponsors, who warm to the concept of having a lady racer as a spokesman for them. It remains to be seen whether or not Wolff could be competitive as a driver in F1, but the sport would love to see that happening. Although the powers that be always pretend that they do not pay attention to other championships they cannot fail to have noticed the impact that Danica Patrick has been having on NASCAR in recent times. For those who have not yet spotted the fact on Sunday Patrick became the first woman to take pole position for a NASCAR Cup race and she did it in style by opening her account with the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. That was headline news across the nation and included appearances on “Good Morning America” and other such shows. The 500 is never short of spectators but Danica’s pole position is likely to give the event an appreciable boost in TV viewing figures, with an audience in excess of 30 million expected. It could even beat the highest ratings achieved for the race in modern times.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” said Patrick’s team boss, the three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. “It’s not like it’s been 15 or 20 years she’s been trying to do this. It’s her second trip to Daytona here in a Cup car. She’s made history in the sport. That’s stuff that we’re proud of being a part of with her. It’s something she should have a huge amount of pride in.”
Even her rivals agree.
“For me it’s not about the color of your skin or your gender, it’s about your abilities. You have to prove that,” four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, who qualified second, said. “I think Danica’s a talented race car driver. She proved that by getting herself into IndyCar, doing what she did in IndyCar. She has taken on quite a task to take on stock cars that are completely foreign to her. I kind of admire somebody that’s willing to take that leap — no different than the way I look at Sam Hornish, Juan Pablo Montoya, any of the guys that have been driving open-wheel cars most of their career and then get in a stock car. It’s completely different. But I love people that are willing to take chances and challenge themselves.”
“It’s a huge deal for our sport to have her on the front row for the Daytona 500,” said Kevin Harvick, a former 500 winner. “It definitely sets a new milestone for our sport. I think that’s pretty neat.”
There is no doubt that Danica is bringing more new fans to NASCAR and that has go to be good for the business.
Would that F1 can find someone like her…
Was talk of Danica moving to F1 a few years ago, do you ever think that will happen?
She’s 30. With the momentum she’s got now in NASCAR she’s not going anywhere else. If Red Bull offered her a ride in five years time she’d still need a couple of years to get up to speed just to start at 38. Are we done here? Please discourage others from beating this dead horse.
Probably be forgotten as quickly as Maria de Villotta. Big news when she was injured and then nothing. Any idea of how she recovered?
She is continuing that process.
Presumably if the team were going to announce the cause of the accident, they would have done so by now?
I’m pretty sure they did announce it when they said ‘a HSE investigation is under way to ascertain why the trucks tail-lift was left down but the car wasn’t the problem’.
Also helping the media coverage is the fact that she’s currently dating fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It brings that “Hello Magazine” angle to the party….
Indeed it does.
Certainly better publicity than a bribery case…
Well said, Jodum.
I wonder how much it would help to create a feeder-series dedicated to women. Sure it would not help women from the “women can’t beat men” but it might help some to find funding and get noticed by some teams on the classic ladder. After the likes of Piria, Jorda and especially Powell, let’s see what Gomez can bring this season in GP3.
No much. I think women need to race against men all the way up the ladder in order to be able to compete in F1
“Formula Woman” Is that still going? I don’t think so.
especially Powell? She is f*cking atrocious as a single seater driver let alone when she dipped her toe into Ginettas and promptly wrote off a bunch of cars… She is not in the same league as Danica and could never hope to be.
A little bit more moderation please.
I used an asterisk.
As I said more moderation would be good.
The especially mainly stands by the fact she was the only one out of the three to break into the Top 10 in a race. And also the only one to have won a title, even if it can be reduced by the weak opposition.
She was the best of the 3 no doubt, but what use is that if shes still not up there with the front runners? No male driver would ever be considered an F1 prospect with 1 point and 19th in the championship.
Congratulations to Danica anyway. Even if she doesn’t win no one can say she hasn’t proved that she deserves a place in the Sprint Cup on merit.
But also on Powell, I think ‘atrocious’ is too harsh. Even if that championship was low level she still had to beat a bunch of men to get there. What F1 needs is for someone (maybe Powell, maybe not) to repeat that at a higher level.
Atrocious is most apt. She didn’t have to beat anyone to get there. The fact that she won a ‘club’ (not national) Formula Renault Championship in the UK (BARC) doesn’t mean she beat anyone of any significance. It means that is what she paid to drive, as she then paid to drive in the UK series in 2011 before paying to drive in GP3. All funded by her family. It is no different to you or I paying to move up the motor-racing ladder.
It is perhaps rather naive to hope that any talent is important at the lower levels of the ladder. It isn’t. What is important, is if you are going to stick to the heavily front loaded payment schedule the junior teams impose on the drivers. Honestly, the entire ladder structure currently is not too far removed from the concept of ‘arrive and drive’ karting.
I think people love to bash Danica Patrick but she’s a bloody good racing driver. Sure, it’s tough in Nascar, but she’s beating guys like Marcos Ambrose who is no slouch. It’s strange Susie Wolff didn’t do better in the DTM, but perhaps those cars didn’t suit her. It’d be great to see her start and F1 race. But does she even qualify for a super licence Joe?
She might as there is a level of discretion in these matters nowadays.
As in ‘how big is your budget?’
and “who is your husband?”
She’s certainly going to be a better driver than anyone reading these comments, though I’ve no doubt a depressingly large percent would deny it..
An excellent point, which few of two fingered Fangio s on here consider.
“The 500 is never short of spectators but Danica’s pole position is likely to give the event an appreciable boost in TV viewing figures, with an audience in excess of 30 million expected. It could even beat the highest ratings achieved for the race in modern times.”
Great job by Danica, and a top effort, not just by Patrick, but by Stewart-Haas in general – a very worthy effort.
However the estimated viewing number of 30 million? Is that expectation not just a touch excessive? That would be beyond a massive jump, considering the Daytona 500 normally attracts between 12-15 million viewers – jet dryers included. It would certainly be a spike, but what are the chances of that lasting beyond the first few laps?
Spare a thought for Kathy Legge who’s trajectory seems to be unfortunately the other way. Always a shame when a Driver has to ‘go legal’ to stay in the seat.
Unfortunately, KL has failed to impress in IndyCar. She had a good run in Formula Atlantic, being the first woman to win a race (Long Beach) in that series. From there, she went on to ChampCar, where she is best known for walking away from a crash that would have killed any driver ten years before while racing at Road America. Her time in DTM was nothing to write home about, and IndyCar was pretty much the same. The fact that the sponsor she brought on board the team decided to stay with the team should tell it all. She’s just not as good as she thinks she is. That being said, the fact that she drives at all in high levels of racing says something. There are a lot of other drivers in the same situation, Kamui Kobayashi and Jaime Algusuari (hope I spelled that correctly) come to mind. Staying at the top in racing is brutal, and Legge should not expect any special consideration because she is a woman.
I agree Andy. Katherine Legge’s 2012 Indycar season was somewhat inconclusive in my view. Her team swapped Lotus engines for Chevrolet part way through the season, and because there only one Chevrolet engine lease, she and Sebastien Bourdais had to split the remaining races with Bourdais racing road and street tracks and Legge doing the ovals. At Long Beach, Legge looked at bit “at sea” to me, but she was still finding her feet in open wheel again after DTM, but at the Fontana oval race, she put in a very spirited drive I thought. She has or had a two-year contract afaik and should have been allowed to see it through.
It’s really, really great news. My earliest motor sport memory is watching Michèle Mouton’s third placed Audi quattro fly over a hill in Sutton Park. Still sends shivers down my spine. There is something really sexy about a woman driving a car fast.
See Armani model Kendra Spears at the wheel of her (racing driver boyfriend‘s??) 911 GT3 RS: http://bit.ly/X0pmc5
I wouldn’t blame you for not authorising this comment! cheers
wow thanks for that, mega hits!
So am I right in thinking that Danica has done better than JPM in less time in NASCAR?
Off the top of my head, JPM has one pole and two Sprint Cup wins.
he’s actually got NINE poles, and not just on road tracks
Well, I did say it was off the top if my head. To be honest, I don’t watch NASCAR enough any more to keep hugely abreast of what’s going down.
Thanks for the clarification.
Congratulations to Danica for the pole. Juan Pablo is settled nicely in the 35th slot. I think it’s fair to call JPM’s tenure in NASCAR as disappointing (at the very least). I root for him, but it’s been a tough row to hoe.
He’s not 35th on the grid. He’s not far from the front.
You’re right–my apologies. I think he’s @10th. WHich is great. Id love to see him win. But I stick to my point that his NASCAR experience has been underwhelming.
Montoya is starting P7.
IMO I think it’s safe to assume that Wolff isn’t where she is based on merit…
Does she have a super licence?
I do not think so.
Would her being down for a bit of official testing aim to fulfill the km requirement in anyway? Perhaps….
I guess the test for Danica Patrick will be how she fares over a season. IIRC she managed to finish second in the Formula Ford Festival (when it was stronger than now) so I suggest she deserves to be in the field on merit.
Of course being a woman will mean she can generate a higher level of publicity than a male equivalent will get. If she can shift the balance of publicity from being a woman driver to being a successful driver then we’ll know she’s heading the right way.
Oh dear, Susie Wolff’s comments in Autosport today don’t really do too much for the perception of women in motorsport, do they?
“Unfortunately, my husband [...] has forbidden me from ever doing Le Mans, so that is off the programme”
Why? Women are often banning their husbands from doing Le Mans as well…
“The key word being “perception”.
For someone who represents the FIA Women in Motorsport Committee to openly declare that her husband has forbade her to compete at Le Mans gives a perception that her career and direction is entirely actioned upon the whim and desire of her husband.
Whether it is true or not is irrelevant, but that is the impression that those comments relay.
Richard Petty’s 200th win with Ronald Reagan in the stands when he was way past his prime. Dale JR winning the Pepsi 400 the same year his dad died… It’s obvious that something was going on…Danica Patrick on pole at the start of the season , give me honest Bernie .
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since 1984. It is THIRTY years ago and things have changed a lot in NASCAR land. I think you also forgot to notice that all three of the Stewart Haas cars were right up there on the pace. I think you are possibly reading too much into this…
Most correct, Joe. If Danica somehow wins the race, which is highly unlikely, the conspiracy theorists will really come out of the woodwork. There were 44 other drivers who had to qualify on Sunday, many of them veterans and former multiple champions, who gave their all to get the best time. Not one of them, save maybe her new beau, would be willing to concede pole position to Danica ( even for the sake of the sport).
The truth is, most NASCAR fans are over with Danica. It is great that she beat all the others with the fastest time, but having pole position isn’t as much of an advantage in Sprint Cup racing as it would be in other racing series. Daytona especially so, where the fastest car means squat. All the cars are restricted in horse power, down from 800 to around 430 hp. This means all the cars run in a pack. A single car cannot go as fast as a pack of cars drafting, a la the peloton in cycling. Also, the cars are much more organic than in other series. The pit crews must continually adjust the cars to the changing conditions of the track. The team who responds in the best way has a much better chance at success. The usual strategy is to stay on the lead lap, stay out of the big wrecks, then make your move in the last ten to fifteen laps. Most winners actually don’t start the final lap in the lead.
All that being said, getting the pole at Daytona means more than a pole in the 35 remaining races of the season, since only at the Daytona 500 is qualifying a week before the race. The usual case is qualifying one or two days before.
This gives time for all the media to drive into high gear, with appearances on national talk shows. Everyone has more time to talk about it. Mainstream media pays more attention, engaging more casual observers, which is great publicity for the sport. I think Danica Patrick would be the first to agree that, while winning the pole is great, winning the race would be truly profound.
And you think nothing like that has ever happened in Formula 1?
Gasp. Somebody should notify Briatore.
Who?
I probably sound cynical, but over the years many drivers have got ‘the call’ from Nascar. Ticket sales were way down and tv numbers have been off for a couple of years, so what better way to prime the pump than to give Danica a little HP boost for the great American race…..
Sounds like the speculation around a number of Monza Pole Positions for Ferrari in apparently lean years.
A woman driver will appear in Formula 1 when top flight motor racing teams start taking women seriously. Having heard some of the comments in the past from motor racing people about women (including a certain Bernard Ecclestone) and having seen the way in which women’s motor racing careers stall out past a certain point, often due to lack of funding, I am fairly convinced that leaders in motor racing are not taking around 50% of the population seriously, either as a catchment area for driving talent, or as a source of revenue.
Had you ever come across Denise McCluggage when attending racing meetings, Joe? I have an interesting little book of her memories.
No. I’m not that old. People on this blog think I am in my 70s. I’m 51.
I told my Lady you were 56 last evening, after she asked, I’ll be happy to correct myself!
Sori tru
Wow Joe, I always thought you were like 40-45. I’d have never guessed you were in your 50s. God bless!
I am 30 in spirit.
is that 30% proof ?
This thread reminds me of the first woman racing driver I saw – Anita Taylor – Trevor’s sister – at Siverstone. 1961-ish She neatly demolished the inside wall with the roof of her red Anglia. As she bounced to a stop the ever chivalrous marshals dashed to open her (upside down) door for her. I googled a bit to assure myself of the facts but came across DT’s in memoriam article on Trevor. Though a bit old, sad news. Reminds me – have to find a new Yorkshire sticker to put on the new car.
Joe – you’ve previously raised some interesting posts about the trade off between paid and paying drivers, the resulting impact on points, and therefore revenues to teams at the end of the season.
Whilst Williams might be in a better position financially thanks to Adam Parr and Maldanado, it doesn’t make sense for them to run Susie seriously at the moment. The conclusion I drew from last year is that the drivers underperformed given the machinery at their disposal.
“Would that F1 can find someone like her…”
IIRC, Joe, we did have someone very like her over here – we had Danica herself! The reports are that she went back over to the States because the level of sexism she was experiencing was intolerable to her. She did pretty well in formula Ford and formula Vauxhall; her second place at the formula Ford Festival was not only the highest ever position for a woman, it was the highest ever position for an American! And she achieved it while racing against Jenson Button, among others…
It’s a shame that She found the UK intolerable. We lost a definite talent there.
She did not find the UK intolerable. She could not find the money to go on racing in Europe. After Bobby Rahal was booted out of Jaguar Racing her one hope of being able to continue with backing from the F1 team disappeared. Instead she went back to the US where Rahal made her into a star.
I’m sure Bernie would love to have Danica in the sport
He might have to explain once again why he thought it was funny to compare her to a domestic appliance…
Bernie is not stupid. Referring to Danica as a domestic appliance was a surefire way to get a higher profile for F1 in the United States – and it worked. Now, one can argue that not all publicity is good publicity, but Mr E has long said things just to get in the newspapers. In a few days I am sure that he will be warning Melbourne that it could lose its Grand Prix. It’s that time of year. Guaranteed headlines. Profile raised. Job done.
I suppose the ‘greater level of in-car testing’ could fulfill the minimum mileage necessary for the F1 license, in the case of Susie Wolff. a third driver is really important for any team, I think – just in case, as you right said.
well , she has the experience of 3 (2?) complete seasons in DTM, even though running always at the end of the field, it is something one can not just discount.
as for the women who have been racing in Indy cars in recent years, I think Simona de Silvestro and Ana Beatriz are apt to drive a F1 car and could be considered as possibilities.
Well if F1 teams want women drivers in the sport they better get a move on and produce a driver program for young ladies, because i belive it is a missed oppotunity and a real shame.